The 76th Hunger Games
by The Favorite02
Summary: President Celestia Snow has been elected and she has plans to avenge her grandfather. There will be another Hunger Games, but a very different reaping. Only the children of the Rebels will be drawn, the odds aren't in their favor. Let the 76 Hunger Games begin.
1. Chapter 1

The idea was completely stupid, and I didn't understand why anyone would even give the girl a chance. During the presidential election, similar to how the people who had once inhabited Panem had had, President Snow's grandaughter, Celestia Snow, had been elected, winning with her charm, bright smiles, and profuse apologies for what her grandfather had done before her. Haymitch and I saw through her though.

Haymitch had taken me in when I was really young, about 10 years ago since I was only 6 when he found me. My parents had died a year before, both from a terrible illness that had killed my older brother and sister as well. I was sick and on the street for months, not able to get better because I wasn't getting the proper medical attention or even food.

I had stumbled into the newly redone Hob one day, attempting to trade anything I could steal for some food, but I was feeling especially weak that day. If Haymitch hadn't have saw me, coming from whoever he bought his alcohol from, I would have died. Because he had been drinking he had thought I was a girl he once knew, someone who had died with very similar blond hair and blue eyes that I had.

He had rushed to my side, grabbing my hand and telling me that I couldn't die again, effectively confusing me, while a group of people from the Apothecary rushed over and had a man that I hadn't known until then pick me up and rush me over to their shop. Haymitch paid for the entire treatment until I was cured from whatever disease the rest of my family had picked up.

"Why did you save me?" I had asked him, sitting on top of a desk in the apothecary shop.

"I thought you were an old friend at first who had died." he answered simply.

"What was her name?"

"Maysilee Donner." he replied, his eyes fogging up. Haymitch reached for a glass with an amber liquid in it that I hadn't known was alcohol at the time.

"Was she very pretty?"

"I suppose so," he laughed, causing him to choke and me to smile slightly. "Now, where are your parents. I suppose they'll be looking for you."

"My parents are dead, sir." I had told him, looking down and trying not to cry.

"Is there anyone else you could go to?"

"No, I don't have a family anymore."

Then Haymitch had decided to take me in, keeping me in his house at the Victor's Village and letting me run free. Soon I started working at the apothecary along with the two woman that had treated me and Haymitch stopped getting quite as drunk, always making sure he was sober enough to take care of me.

It didn't seem like that would last for much longer though, he was already grabbing a second bottle after hearing the news that there would be a new Snow as a president. Haymitch sat beside me on the couch, slightly hyperventilating.

"Are you ok?" I asked him, knowing full well just how stupid the question was.

He simply stared into space, never meeting my eye or looking at Celestia's face on the projection of the event that played out as she was announced president. Haymitch downed the bottle quickly, going for another, but there was no more.

Haymitch groaned loudly, coming and collapsing on the couch, nearly crushing me in the process. Even though I usually strongly discouraged any use of alcohol when it came to Haymitch, I could tell that he desperately needed some. So I got up, grabbed the closest coat I could find, (which happened to be one of Haymitch's) and started off for the Hob to get him something.

When I got there all I had to do was say Haymitch's name and the man at the front gave me what he would want, placing them in a bag. Which I was grateful for since I didn't want anyone to see me carrying around alcohol when I was only 16 years old.

Everyone in the Hob was staring up at the screens placed around, which was a new feature. There it showed the footage of Celestia's speech after being elected. She looked regal with a cobalt blue shirt on and a white skirt that clung to her legs.

"I realize that most people thought it would be a mistake to elect me to be president because of my grandfather's presidency regarding the Hunger Games. However, I've heard news that a group of rebels planned on putting a group of Capitol children, including me, in a recreation of the Games after the war was over.

"Out of punishment for them, and respect for my grandfather, there will be one last Games. But those of you who were innocent do not have to worry, only the children and people close to the leading rebels will be reaped."

I didn't hear the rest of her speech, my brain turned to putty. People were turned looking at me and someone else who was in the crowd, but I couldn't see whoever it was because I was so short. Most people looked relieved that their children wouldn't be reaped, but I was shaking, knowing that since Haymitch was a leading rebel in the rebellion that had killed Snow, I would be entered.

My brain finally caught up to my body and I ran, a full out sprint to the Victor's Village with the alcohol bottles rattling behind me. Tears formed in my eyes, making my vision blurry and causing me to run into both people and objects in my pursuit to get home.

I opened the door to the sound of things being thrown. Running in the direction of the screaming, I saw Haymitch aiming another wine glass at the projection of the new president's face. His face was red and he looked very mad.

When he noticed me he dropped the wine glass, shattering it on the floor, and came running towards me. I dropped the bag that was clasped tightly in my hand and let Haymitch hug me tightly, finally letting the tears I had been holding in fall. Haymitch kept muttering random things about his Games and Maysilee, but I didn't care. Being in his arms was comforting enough at the moment.

A sharp scream came from outside our house, one that was familiar, and yet not familiar at the same time. I ran out the door, seeing Katniss, her black hair in it's normal braid, Peeta, and their son Andrue who had Peeta's blond hair and Katniss's bright grey eyes.

Peeta looked crazed, which only happened every once in awhile when he was reminded of his time in the Games after he got hijacked by the capitol. His eyes were wide and slightly foggy, which reminded me of when Haymitch got too drunk for the same reasons, and his arms were flailing out as he attacked Katniss.

Andrue rushed in between the two of them, grabbing his father and holding him down so that he couldn't attack Katniss again. By the time he was pinned down, Rose had come out of the house too, Andrue's older sister with black hair and blue eyes.

Katniss rushed over to Peeta, which I thought was pretty stupid while he was in the state he was in at the moment, and helped him to remember what had actually happened. Slowly Peeta calmed down and relaxed, telling Andrue to let him up.

"I'm guessing you heard the news as well." I whispered to Andrue, not wanting to cause another scene. Andrue was about a year older than me, so I had played with him when I was younger and first moved in with Haymitch. We went to all the same events because of Haymitch and his parents and ate together quite often, so it was nice to have someone who had to go through the same stuff as I did.

"Yeah, I was in the Hob when it happened. By the time I had gotten back dad was freaking out." he answered.

"So you were the other person there." Then I told him what had happened and I saw Haymitch bring out the alcohol and Katniss make a grab for it. Rose was beside Peeta, crying softly into his shoulder while he tried to comfort her. She was too soft for the Games, if she was reaped then she would probably die straight away.

I was shocked at my new way of thinking. I shouldn't already be analyzing people for the Games, but I had to now. There was a fifty-fifty shot that I would get reaped, and I wasn't going to take my chances by wasting my time.

"I know I'm going to be a tribute, so you can stop acting so awkward around me." Drue said eventually after a long and awkward silence from me. I had been trying to avoid that topic, knowing that I would be extremely lucky not to be in the Games myself.

"Stop pitying yourself so much! You won't be the only one attending those Games!" I exclaimed, causing everyone to look at us sharply, but frankly, I didn't care whether or not I set off Peeta again at the moment.

"You'll have a chance May. The main objective of the Games will be killing Rose and I. It's probably rigged so that Rose and I are the ones that get reaped." he replied, but not loudly like I had been. It almost sounded like he was trying to explain something simple to a small child. It made my blood boil and my face turn hot, most likely changing to a bright red color.

"Well then maybe we should be out of each other's hair now then!" I snapped, not admitting to myself or out loud just how scared I was that one of us would have to kill the other.

"Fine, it'll only save us both the trouble in the end."

I fled out of the Victor's Village, hugging Haymitch's coat to me tightly. Tears blurred my vision as I found my way to a hiding place. There was a big bush of Primroses just outside of the gates to the Victor's Village. They were planted by Peeta and Katniss after her sister had died in honor of her. They were everywhere, filling every nook and cranny that they could. I hid behind the bush and curled into a ball.

The only thing that comforted me was Drue's thought that it would be rigged. If it was then at least I wouldn't be drawn. The thought made me sick, but I could live with that, as long as I was alive and able to feel sick.

There was a cracking of a branch, and before I could wipe away my tears Haymitch pushed aside the flowers and sat beside me. He put his arm around me and I laid my head on his chest, letting silent tears fall down my cheeks.

"Am I going to die?" I asked him with a small voice. It was a childish question, but it was the only thing that was on my mind. I needed the reassurance that I wouldn't die in these Games.

"Not on my watch." he promised.


	2. Chapter 2

"You have to go talk to him." Haymitch commented. He was facing the TV, which wasn't even on at the moment, drinking Vodka. I thought I was being sneaky when I had walked behind him to grab my own bottle, but I guess his time in the Games had helped him to develope his hearing abilities.

"How did you…?" I questioned.

"Your heel hits the ground too hard when you walk, you should really fix that. But that's not the point. You need to go talk to Andrue and get things sorted out before that Games." Haymitch told me.

"I'm not going to do that." I argued, coming over to him and taking a swig of his Vodka.

"That," he drawled, taking the bottle away from me, "is not yours. And you will talk to him. If not because he's been your only close friend since I took you in, then because you need an ally in the Games and sponsors. You and I both know that he'll be the one reeling them all in. He's got Peeta's charm and Katniss's ability with a bow."

"He can use a bow?" I questioned, a little shocked and terrified.

"Yeah. Katniss was outside teaching him yesterday. Andrue's almost as good as she is. Now stop trying to change the subject."

"I'm not going to apologize to him!" I repeated, this time more angry. My insides boiled and I growled in frustration that he didn't understand.

"Do you remember the story of Maysilee?" Of course I remembered, that's what had caused Haymitch to drink and was the source of most of his nightmares. "We were friends during the Games, a little more than acquaintances before hand. When things got harder we went our separate ways. As soon as I left her she got attacked by mutts. I don't want that happening to you or Andrue. So get over yourself and go apologize."

"You don't understand! I don't want to be the one that has to kill him when it gets down to it! But I can't just die! I can't...die." I said that last part quietly, holding in tears, ashamed that I was so scared of death.

Haymitch stood up and put the hand that wasn't holding his Vodka bottle on my shoulder. "He'll protect you May, and you him. You two need each other to survive the Games."

"But we can't both survive the Games." I replied, solemn.

"Maybe you can. Maybe you can do something like Katniss and Peeta did." He was grasping at straws, but it made me feel better to try and reason the possibility of us both surviving in my head. But I could tell that we both didn't believe it.

"Yeah, maybe…"

"No go. I don't want to see you back here until you're both happily friends again." then he laughed drunkenly.

I lightly punched him on the shoulder and he collapsed onto the couch. "Hey!" I ran outside before he could catch me, fully intending to go to the Pub to find a weapon to practice with instead of going to find Peeta.

A door slammed closed. I whipped my head around to check the door behind me, but it wasn't Haymitch chasing after me to get his revenge. It came from Katniss and Peeta's house, but I didn't see anyone coming from there when I looked back. Then a body slammed into me from behind, making me fall to the ground in a snowy heap.

I flipped around, pinning the other person to the floor. While I expected Drue to be the one that tackled me, it was actually a pink faced Rose with tears streaming down her face. My shock gave her just enough time to turn me back over.

"What do you want, Rose?" I asked, struggling to get her off. I was wet and cold and I couldn't breath due to her sitting on top of me.

"I don't want to die. I don't want to die." she repeated, yelling and shaking.

"Get off!" I shrieked, hoping that someone would hear, Haymitch, Katniss, I didn't even care if it was Andrue at the moment.

"No, I need you to volunteer for me if I'm reaped!" she was crazed, with fear and with anger. Her eyes were wide and it looked like her mouth would start foaming at any second. Rose probably didn't even know what she was doing anymore, I couldn't hold any of this against her if we both were alive after the Games were over.

"Are you crazy?" I asked her.

The answered was obviously yes, but she didn't have time to answer before she was pulled off of me, kicking and screaming as she did so. She trashed around in Peeta's arms while Katniss ran over and sat beside me.

"Are you ok?" she questioned.

"I think so." I replied shakily, not taking my eyes off of Rose as she left, making sure that she wouldn't attack me again.

"I'm really sorry about what happened. She isn't the same now, but then again, who is?" She checked me over while she talked. I was cold, but I wasn't hurt.

Haymitch walked out with Drue running behind him over to me. "Are you ok?" Drue asked.

"Yeah." I spat at him.

Haymitch gave me a long look with narrowed eyes. "Burrrrrr, it's getting cold out here." he commented.

"Be nice." Katniss told me. I looked over at her, but she was already leaving with Peeta and Drue.

"I thought I told you two to make friends. That didn't look very friendly to me." Haymitch drawled.

"Well, I was a bit preoccupied by getting tackled by Rose." I grumbled, glaring up at him as we walked inside our house.

Once inside, I changed out of my clothes and into a really big and fluffy sweater and leggings. Then I bundled myself into a blanket and sat down on the couch. Usually at a time like this I would walk over to the Mellark house. Peeta would make me hot chocolate and Drue and I would share a blanket and I would tell him everything that was wrong. I couldn't do that now though. I didn't want to see Peeta before his inevitable Games and I didn't want to get tackled by Rose again even more.

I flipped on the TV, not knowing what else to do to get my mind off of everything. The first thing I saw was a forrest, but it look almost artificial; the grass was too green and the flowers too bright. Then a girl with blond hair and strikingly blue eyes ran across the field, a dart gun in her hand. And then a much younger and handsomer version of Haymitch. Both the girl and Haymitch were bloodied and bruised.

With a start, I realized what I was watching. It was the 50th Hunger Games (A Quarter Quell), the one Haymitch had won. The girl must have been Maysilee, which wouldn't surprise me since everyone had always told me we looking crazily familiar.

Haymitch screamed, but I wasn't sure if it was the one on TV or the one I lived with. I looked around and saw Haymitch, a shattered bottle around his feet that he had most likely dropped. His eyes were blank as he watched the TV, too shocked and scared to move.

I quickly turned around to turn the TV off, but I was too late. Maysilee was on the ground, her neck bleeding and pink bird flying away and pecking at the ground for food. Her head was in Haymitch's lap while he said something to her that I didn't catch. The cannon signaling her death went off just as their images disappeared from the wall.

I shook hard, despite my heavy blanket and warm clothes. There was only one thing that this meant. The 76th Hunger Games wouldn't be the last.

Hey guys! So, I realize that I updated this pretty early after the last chapter, but don't get used to it. I try to post a new chapter every week, but sometimes when I have nothing to do I can post one or two even in the span of one day. I really hope you guys are enjoying this and I always appreciate reviews and comments *hint hint* so tell me what you think.


	3. Chapter 3

It was already time. Time for the Reaping. Time for me to either get a free ticket for death or the task of watching my closest friend and his sister fight to the death in an arena with other kids. Either way I wouldn't be winning.

Katniss had brought me an old dress that she had worn back when she had been loved by the Capitol. Apparently it hadn't even been one that she had been allowed to wear on TV, but I still thought it was gorgeous. It was a light blue color, which reminded me of the sky, and reached just above my knee. My hair was down and the ends reached the slightly darker blue bow at my waist. I had a matching bow in my hair in the back, keeping my pesky hair out of my eyes.

I walked solemnly out of my room and downstairs. Haymitch was asleep on the couch with his arm covering his face and drool coming out of his open mouth. Bottles of various alcohols covered the coffee table beside him and the floor. I walked over to him and searched around for the knife that he always kept with him, finding it under his pillow. I grabbed it and then shook him awake, standing back fast to avoid the collision.

He started flailing his arms wildly, fending off invisible threats and people trying to kill him. Haymitch then seemed to realize where he was and what the day it was. He looked at my dress sadly and rubbed his head from a hangover.

"Go get dressed Haymitch." I told him quietly.

He got up and did as he was told. By the time he was back downstairs the Mellark's had gotten to our house and were waiting to walk over with us.

The Town Square was filled with terrified people, but they were all safe. At least, this year they were. They watched from behind a rope which closed two small circles. In front of the two circles was a stage with three chairs at the back of it and a microphone front and center. On both sides of the microphone was a bowl with pieces of paper in them; two in one and one in another.

"You guys need to go in the circles. Girls on the right and Drue on the left." Peeta told us, sympathy and fear in his eyes.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Rose asked when they moved away, desperately clinging to Katniss' arm.

"We have to go onto the stage, sweety. It's where all the Victors go. Be brave my dear," then she kissed her forehead and moved on to Drue. "You be brave too. Take care of your sister." Tears started to fall from her eyes, but Drue remained cool for the cameras.

"I will. I promise."

"I love you both!" Peeta told them and they echoed his thought.

"I'm not going to hug on you so that you look good for the cameras." Haymitch told me. "I don't say this enough, but I love you. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure you stay alive during the Games. Don't worry."

"I love you too." I whispered, holding in tears for the cameras.

"That's my strong girl. I'll see you after this is all over." Then he kissed my cheek and left to find his seat next to Katniss.

Not seconds after Haymitch had sat, a girl with curly pink hair and a dress resembling an angel walked out. A scarf of sorts attached to the dress between her shoulderblades and extended out and tied on her wrists to make them float around as she talked. The bodes was covered in diamonds and it was all a bright white color.

I recognized the girl from the parties Haymitch dragged me off to. The woman was Effie Trinket. She had escorted Peeta and Katniss to the Capitol after they had gotten reaped. She had also helped with the rebellion, though it seemed that she was on the Capitol's side now. That thought made me sick.

"Welcome," she told us all. Effie sounded like she was trying to keep her voice happy, but was failing miserably. "The time has come to reap the names for the 76th Hunger Games. May their sacrifice show us just how terrible the rebellion was and avenge our former leader, President Snow."

She clapped, waiting for the rest of us to follow suit, but we all just watched her, waiting for Effie to get on with it.

"First, the girls." She walked over to the bowl in front of Rose and I and reached her hand in to grab a slip of paper holding the fate of one of us literally in her hands. Cameras zoomed in on us, trying to get a close up of our reactions for when the name was called. Rose's eyes were scrunched up tightly, hoping she wouldn't get picked. I was more discreet by crossing my finger and toes and praying one quick prayer that my name wouldn't be the one that she reaped.

"May Fairstone." she called out, looking at me sadly.

I stopped breathing for a second, time stopping around me as well. Rose was crying and hugging herself, thought I wasn't sure if it was from relief, grief for me, or both. Drue looked beyond upset, getting ready to jump over the ropes and hold me tightly in a hug, but he held back. Worst of all was Haymitch. His face was contorted with pain and he looked about ready to cry out or claim that Effie had read the slip wrong on purpose.

I took a deep, shaky breath and took my first steps toward the stage. Effie reached her hand out to help me up the stairs, but I refused her. I didn't want to touch the person who had caused me to have to enter an arena and fight to the death.

Once I had taken my place Effie went over to the boys bowl, but there really wasn't any need. We all knew who was going to get picked. "Andrue Mellark." she said solemnly.

He walked up to the stage, just as calmly as I had and walked up the steps, but he accepted Effie's help. He stood on the other side of her, beside his now empty bowl. "Shake hands." she told us, stepping back. I turned to look at Drue who was already looking at me and grabbed his hand. He gave them a small squeeze and a small smile. I chose to ignore them as much as possible, the sooner I got him out of my head, the better.

"District 12, your tributes." Effie announced from behind us. Then Drue raised our still intertwined hands into the air.

"What are you doing?" I whispered.

"The people in the Capitol will love it, trust me." Drue answered.

"I don't need your help." I felt terrible about saying it, but I hoped the words would make Drue keeps his distance from me and make the inevitable separation easier on us both.

"Well, you're getting. I'm not going to let you die."

Well, here's another chapter! Man, I have no life. lol. Tell me what you think and give me some ideas for the tributes. Thanks, love ya'll!


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